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Verstappen favours his overtake on Rosberg in Brazil 2016

Verstappen on his favourite overtaking move: 'Wouldn't try now'

22 June 2023 at 12:54
Last update 22 June 2023 at 15:24

Max Verstappen has been in Formula 1 since 2015. In all those years, the Dutchman has made quite a lot of overtakes. On Red Bull creator Pondens' YouTube channel, Verstappen tells which overtaking move was his favourite.

Famous overtaking

The Red Bull driver's most famous overtaking is most likely his overtaking of Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which helped Verstappen win his first world title.

However, that is far from the only brilliant overtaking move by the now two-time world champion. During the famous rain race in Brazil in 2016, the Dutchman drove a fantastic race, with overtaking moves that brought him back on the podium after a wrong choice of tyres. However, the most spectacular overtaking of that race took place before the wrong tyre choice, when Verstappen managed to overtake Nico Rosberg on the outside in Turn 3.

Verstappen's favourite

The Dutchman sees the overtaking action on the German, who became world champion a week later in Abu Dhabi, as his favourite: "This one was good! As you can see, it was very wet, and I was just trying different lines throughout the whole race, and for me, there was more grip around the outside there. For a lot of laps, I was really close to Nico (Rosberg), but you can barely see anything, so this was my only opportunity to try and get him. He went on the inside, and he had a bit of a wobble on the exit of turn two, and I just went around the outside. As you can see, it only just worked as I was oversteering, but it was a cool move."

Whether Verstappen would try the same again now remains to be seen: "I probably wouldn't try the same move now, but it depends on your position in the championship a little bit. At the time, I had nothing to lose, so I just went for it."